“This is not about destroying structures”, IOC President Thomas Bach said, referring to WADA.
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Asked if the uncertainly over the participation of Russian athletes so close to the start of the Games was embarrassing for the IOC, Bach replied, “no, the IOC is not responsible for the timing of the (McLaren) report”.
With five days to go before the Games open there is still huge uncertainty about which Russian athletes will be able to compete in Rio.
Olympic officials instead asked the global federations that govern each sport to consider each Russian athlete’s eligibility on a case-by-case basis. Some have filed appeals against their bans.
The IOC on Saturday set up a panel of three executive board members who will have the final say on which Russians are let into the games, based on advice from an independent expert appointed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
So far, more than 100 of Russia’s athletes have been excluded by their federations with more than 250 cleared to compete.
“The (anti-doping) system needs to be equally integrated and a unique system in all countries of the world”, Mutko told Russian media after a meeting at the United Nations cultural organisation, Unesco, in Paris. “And this is for very obvious reasons”.
The president then deflected much of the blame toward anti-doping officials.
Reedie said he had received assurances from officials at high levels of the Russian Federation government that they accept they have a problem and need to fix it. That led to McLaren’s investigation, which corroborated Rodchenkov’s claims that dirty samples of Russian athletes were replaced with clean ones during the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
“I don’t feel as if I’ve been run under a bus”, Reedie told reporters, insisting that both sides were in general accord on the need to find solutions for the future.
Bach’s position received support from most of the speakers during the debate, with the strongest criticism coming from Canadian member Dick Pound, a former president of WADA who has been outspoken in calling for a complete ban on Russian Federation – something he had previously called “the nuclear option”.
Bach denied the International Olympic Committee had been pressured by the Kremlin since the publication of the report.
Russian Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov lashed out at what he called a political campaign against Russia and “discrimination” against clean athletes not connected to doping.
Lebidev has launched his case against the IOC, wrestling’s governing body and the Russian Olympic Committee.
Bach insisted that much of the worldwide sports world supports this decision.
“Of course the negative opinions are most likely to be quoted”, he said.
The exact composition of the Russian team could change in coming days as the vetting process continues at break-neck pace.
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“‘I don’t think that this in the end will be damaging because people will realize we have to take this decision now”, Bach said.
